India’s Honorable Defence Minister, Mr. Manohar Parrikar, met with a 15 member delegation of the local chapter of Pan IIT Alumni Association (IITAACK) on the concluding day - April 18, 2015 of his first foreign visit to South Korea. The 8AM breakfast meeting in the Seoul Millennium Hilton Hotel started with a brief introduction to Mr. Parrikar by Mr. Pankaj Agarwal, the President of IITAACK. The delegation applauded Mr. Parrikar for holding the title of being the first IITian IITB, 1978 Batch) ever to become the Chief Minister of any Indian State. That followed by Mr. Parrikar launching the newly formed association’s logo which features the impression of Seoul Tower adjoining the Pan IIT logo.

IIT Alumni Association – Korea was founded in January, 2015 with the aim of providing a platform to IITians in South Korea to build a professional network and to further bolster the brand equity of India and IIT in Korea.

During the hour long interactive session, Mr. Parrikar highlighted the importance of such organizations and encouraged all Alumni to learn from the best practices of countries where they work and to bring that rich knowledge back to India. He encouraged all the recent graduates who made up about half of the delegation to consider starting their entrepreneurial ventures in India. He highlighted the new initiatives that the government of India has taken both inside the defence technology industry and in the general startup ecoCsystem. Mr. Parrikar also shared his journey post IIT and his eventual entry into politics conveying insights about his approach to life.

Several members of the delegation highlighted positive aspects of Korean society and technologies that India could adopt almost immediately. Issues such as women’s safety, infrastructure and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (“Clean India Campaign”) were discussed in the meeting. Towards the final minutes of the meeting, there was a brief discussion on ways to continue the engagement of this association with the Hon. Defense Minister.

The session was concluded with a group photo shoot and a thank you note by the President of IITAACKorea.